Drive
by Knightfall1138
Summary: Some time has passed since the incident on Miranda. The crew is struggling with the loss of their friends and trying to maintain good business relations to keep Serenity in the air.
1. Chapter 1: Picking Up The Pieces

* * *

Firefly - Episode One  
"Drive" (Chapter One)

* * *

Serenity dipped into a barrel roll as a rad-missile passed within inches of the hull. Explosions sent all colors of light through the bridge. It was a sight that could cast fear and awe at the same moment. 

"I remember this." Mal said to himself. "We thought it was just a shiny gold coin. They thought it was a gift from their god. They didn't take kindly to its disappearance."

"Woah." Wash whipped the controls to the right to avoid another missile. After leveling out, he quickly wiped the sweat from his brow. "Barely dodged death that time, Cap."

Mal laughed and gripped the railing a bit harder. "They must have chased us for hours until you lost them in that asteroid field. Quite a sight to behold." He looked over to Wash, who was still struggling with the controls. "You were the best pilot I ever laid eyes on."

"Thanks, Mal. You don't have to suck up to me, I don't want to die here either."

"I know, Wash…" A serious frown overcame Mal's look of pride. "You didn't die here…but you did."

Wash looked up briefly. "What are you talking about?" He had that quizzing smile that he was so famous for.

"You died down there on that planet, Wash." Tears formed under his eyes. "I'm sorry. Ain't a day that goes by when I'm not."

"Mal, now's not the time to go all crazy on me. I…" Wash looked out the front viewport stunned. "Oh…that's right…I did…" A Reaver spike ripped through the bridge and impaled Wash through the chest.

--

"噢, 上帝原谅我!!!" Captain Malcolm Reynolds awoke in his bunk with a loss of breath. He quickly scanned his surroundings and calmed himself down. "Just a dream…Just a horrible, guilt-ridden dream." After his breath returned, he went about getting dressed.

--

"I'm not blaming you, Jayne. All's I wanted to know is why there was a mark-II blaster in the air-comp manifold. Nearly ripped half of it apart when it kicked on." Kaylee had her arms crossed in the usual manner when something goes wrong in the engine room. Her bunny slippers silently tapping against the metal flooring.

"Look! I'm just takin' steps in case we get boarded and need an extra arm to help us out." Jayne argued through his shortsightedness. "I've put guns in every room of the ship."

"Wait…every room?"

"Yeah. I even put one behind that pink nightmare of a dress you own."

"What! You went into my room?! And touched my…" Her eyes widened and her arms dropped to her sides. This caused Jayne to take a step back in fear of getting slapped or worse. He quickly played it off as adjusting his weight to another foot.

"Just...want to be prepared is all…" Not wanting to say the wrong choice of words, he quit speaking and took the blaster from Kaylee's quivering hand. She turned about and made her way down the corridor to the engine room.

As Jayne stood in the kitchen holding the blaster, feeling as if he had just dodged his own bullet, Zoe walked in and began making herself a cup of tea.

"Hey there, Zoe." Jayne said.

"One of your P7-Semis found its way under my mattress, Jayne."

Jayne swallowed but stood with dignity. "Just wanted to be prepared is all…"

--

Mal walked onto the bridge to find River still at the helm. In the copilot's seat, Simon sat with a book, reading aloud. Both acknowledged the Captain as he walked in.

"Good morning, Mal." Simon said in a cheery voice.

"Be lyin' if I said it was." Mal looked over to River. "How long has she been at the wheel?"

"All night. I thought if I read to her she would start getting tired and get some sleep, but I think she's enjoying it.

River briefly looked up from the controls and threw a big smile in Mal's direction.

"Huh. Well isn't that something. Seen that smile as much as I've seen an Alliance soldier with manners." Mal leaned against the siding. "Known some kids her age couldn't hardly ride a bike than pilot a starship. Knew she was smart, but now I'm beginning to wonder if all our jobs are in dire straights."

"Are you thinking you might wake up with another Browncoat on the bridge calling the shots?" Simon joked.

"Hey. Browncoats is a derogatory term, and I won't have that on my ship." Mal said seriously. "Besides, they're not really brown. They're more of a hazel-sunset color. Also, I saw our little girl reading over one of your medical dictionaries."

"Temifitis is a condition that causes weakening in heart muscles. Can be treated with small doses of epinephrine injected straight into the blood stream." River spouted from left field.

"Ha!" Simon chuckled in astonishment.

"I guess you'd be a better doctor than your brother. Practically stabs me with those needles. Are we nearing Persephone?"

"Three hours, ten minutes, and twenty-seven seconds. Depending on whether or not the flux reverter shuts down again." River responded in a merciless manner.

"A simple 'soon' would have sufficed." Mal opened a compartment and pulled out a water bottle. It tasted refreshing after just waking up. "I'll go see if Inara is awake and prettied up."

Simon's voice could be heard starting up again as he continued reading to River

--

The hatch to Inara's shuttle opened up as Mal approached. Jayne, with his eyes to the floor and his arms grasping a large rocket launcher of some sort, walked out of the doorway.

"Just wanted to be prepared is all!" Jayne shouted into the shuttle. After catching sight of Mal, he shook his head. "Women. Don't like anything what isn't covered in pink fuzz."

Mal snickered and walked through the doorway.

"Inara, are you decent?" He said before parting the curtain.

"Mal, I think you've walked in here a thousand times uninvited." She turned away from a mirror and set down a make-up case. "Are you dying?"

"A little bit more every time we speak at eachother. Have any...propositions this time around?"

"Ever since our little run in with...Miranda...business has been from fans more often than clients." She turned back to the mirror.

"Well, I wish my fans had their dedication…I also wish I had fans. How'd that even come about anyhow?" Mal asked.

"Word of mouth I suppose."

"I suppose it would." He turned and sat down on her bed and nearly lost his balance after discovering how soft it was. "If I could only get just one passerby that says, 'Hey, you're that one guy,' that would be fine by me. Instead you get adoring fans that pay you to knock about…Say, are the Companions hiring?"

Inara had been tuning him out since he started talking. "Will that be all, Mal?"

"So rude. I'ma start charging you double, Miss Celebrity." With that, Mal exited the shuttle, leaving Inara to laugh slightly when he was out of hearing range.

--

-Persephone-

"Never seen you take 'em back like this. Something wrong?" Jayne swirled his shot of sake around as Mal poured another from the bottle. "You wanna talk about it, brave soldier. 'Cause I'm the talkin' sort of guy."

"Everything's shiny, Jayne. Ain't a rule says that a man can't drink in a bar." Mal took the shot back and slammed the glass on the table.

"Yeah, but you ain't drinkin', you're drunk." Jayne took his shot as well. "Never thought I'd find a drinkin' buddy in you, Mal."

"Things change. Things are always changin'."

"Right. Well, I'm gonna get us another bottle to celebrate." After picking up the empty shot glasses, Jayne stumbled off to the bar. After, what Mal thought, was a slight exchange of words between Jayne and another patron, Jayne followed the man out back with his hand tapping at his holster.

"Hope he gets shot." Mal said to himself after pouring yet another glass full.

"Hey, Captain Reynolds." Simon sat down across the table. "Starting the day a bit early I see."

"We've been in space. Haven't had a day for nearly a week. Just makin' up for it, doctor."

Simon knew why Mal had been throwing himself into the bottle lately whenever they got shore leave. It wasn't exactly a subject that he wanted to touch on, but knew that he had to.

"So, Captain…I…"

"How's that sister of your's?"

"Oh! She's good. She's good...She's seeing that Serenity gets refueled on time." Time to bring it up. "It seems like she's taken on all of Wash's duties for the time being."

Mal took another drink. "Knew you wanted to talk about this, doc. To answer your questions in full: No, I do not blame myself for Wash's death. The man was killed and he will always be missed; ain't nothing gonna change that. Yes, it is fine that your sister pilots my ship as long as she doesn't go into one of her episodes and decides to make a landing nose first. And finally, yes, I think we need to hire new people. Hell, nine was barely enough for the sum of our mischief."

"Mal…I didn't mean…" On his time on Serenity, Simon observed the Captain's uncanny ability to read people, but not to this extent.

"But, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Mal spotted a clock on the wall. "Now, we best get to our meeting."

--

Mal and Simon met Zoe and a bruised-up Jayne at Badger's place of business.

"You don't reckon Badger has some pin-up aggression?" Zoe asked. She knew he had taken his time at the bar.

"Aggression?" Mal's brow raised.

"Aggression from us leaving him out in the middle of the desert…Ring a bell?"

"Ah. It's funny how the most amusing memories are the first to go as time passes. I'm sure he'll be 罚款和愉快 about it. Just like he practically forgot about yanking our funds at the last minute before sending us on a cattle run. Not to mention that whole ordeal on Sturges. In all honesty, we should a tad bit more disappointed with him than he should with us."

"Sir, if there are that many reasons, why are we going back to him for a job?"

"Because..." Mal struggled for a second. "...When he does pay, he pays well. Plus, he's very funny to look at."

"That's a fine way of looking at it. But he may just be as 罚款和愉快 with shooting us on sight."

"That he may."

Jayne stopped poking at one of the cuts on his right cheek. "Hell, I've been wantin' to put the guy down from day one. It wasn't me who grew a conscience at the last second."

"Jayne…" Mal spoke up. "…you should try listening to your conscience. It'll keep the bruises off your face." He turned to Simon. "Doc, you'd best keep walkin' on towards the ship, we'll be there shortly."

Simon didn't want to leave, but he knew that his negotiation skills were at zero. Jayne had some, but that was on account of the large gun. "Alright, Mal." He began walking towards Serenity, looking back every few steps.

A large man opened the door to the shop. He said nothing, but motioned for the crew to enter. The cloth that covered the rest of the place flapped gently with the gusts of wind caused by hovercraft over head.

"Welcome back to Persephone, ol' chums." Badger said in his thick accent.

"Pleasure to see you again, Badger." Mal threw up a fake smile.

"Badger? That blighter?! Nah, mate. I'm his twin brother, Boyle."

Jayne looked over to Zoe and Mal to make sure they were as confused as he was.

"Well…what happened to Badger? Not that we ain't delighted by his absence." Mal asked.

"It seems he got into a deal he weren't suppos'd to. Got snatched up by an Alliance agent. Now he's up at the penney doing a dime. Serves him right." He spit on the ground. "Dumb bastard couldn't even beat half of what Fanty and Mingo rake in on the daily."

"Ain't that a shame. You got work for us?"

"As a fact of the matter, I do." Boyle turned around and pulled a piece of paper out from his desk. "Now, I've heard of you a lot 'round here. The word on the street says that Captain Malcolm Reynolds is a man that gets the job done. I must apologize for my brother puttin' a damper on the process of things a few jobs ago. I'll be damned, I won't make the same mistake." He handed the paper over to Mal.

"Is this the job?"

"It is. You see there's a certain…artifact that is, on occasion, transferred from one Alliance outpost to another. They never keep records of its transportation if it goes through the Alliance itself. But on this particular transport it's being handled by an independent contract, so we were able to get our hands on this…the contract."

Zoe could see that this was definitely not Badger, but she could also see a shared trait the two had. Slight of the tongue. "What did you mean by 'artifact'?"

Boyle's eyes broke contact for a split second. "It's an item of ideal importance that, I believe, should not be kept by those of the Alliance. You understand."

Mal smiled at this. "Indeed we do. What's the timeframe after the artifact goes missin'?"

"I figure it takes the vehicle the better part of three hours to reach the port before it's shipped off-world. Best be disappearing by then. Good luck to you, Mister Reynolds."


	2. Chapter 2: Decisions

* * *

Firefly - Episode One  
"Drive" (Chapter Two)

* * *

While River went about piloting Serenity out of atmo, the rest of the crew met in the dining area to discuss their job. 

"A car?" Jayne peered over the paper and made a confused snarl at the very idea. "We're gonna rob a gorram car?"

"It appears so." Mal paced the length of the room as he conjured up a plan in the back of his mind. "Seems to me there might be more heat on this vehicle than Boyle's willin' to share with us."

"It's probably an Alliance trap." Zoe contributed. "Easy target, let some information slip, and they've got their thieves in shackles."

Jayne let the paper float down onto the table. "I say we skunk the job an' find employment elsewhere. Ain't takin' a bullet for somethin' I don't know what it is."

"For once, I agree with Jayne on this one." Simon said with a shameful look. "There's no way the Alliance would ever transport any sort of 'artifact' on a less-that-secure vehicle like that. It would have to be a trap."

Mal gazed at the floor and rubbed his forehead after being struck with the fact that he too agreed with Jayne. "咒骂这个旋转木马…Alright. The job is supposed to be takin' place on Relanor, which is where we're headin'. That moon is home to some employment opportunities anyways so we'll just keep the course for now. Don't be tellin' Boyle 'bout this neither. The last thing I need is another angry midget lookin' to get even."

--

"Only one thing is gonna walk you through this, Mal." Shepherd Book said quietly as the two looked out over the town. "Belief."

"You know I always look to you for counsel, but sermons make me sleepy, Shepherd." Mal took a drink of water. "I ain't lookin' for help from on high. That's a long wait for a train don't come."

"When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?"

--

_"Captain!"_ Kaylee's voice rang out over the intercom. Mal snapped out of his daze and clicked the receiver.

"What is it?" Had he been sleeping? He couldn't even relax in his own room anymore without being visited by ghosts.

_"The gravity field all over the place. You might wanna check on our pilot."_

As Mal turned away, he saw the various items in his room begin to vibrate. "Huh." He said before climbing up the ladder to the main hallway.

"Captain Reynolds!" Simon came at a full sprint from the dining room.

"Getting some exercise, Doctor?" Mal joked sleepily.

"It's River! She's asleep!" He began sweat from his run.

"What? At the helm?"

"No, in her bed! I just woke up and I found her in bed! Dead asleep and I can't wake her up!"

Mal pointed towards the bridge. "Well who's flyin' the…Oh, this just isn't my best day ever."

The two began walked towards the bridge and up the stairs. They were met with an empty pilot's seat and the surface of a decently-sized moon circling towards them and growing more detailed by the second.

"Ho ho! Ain't that just the scariest thing?" Mal leaped over into the pilot's seat and grabbed the controls. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and began to pull backwards with all his strength. The front viewports began to light up red as the ship hit atmo. The silence of space was destroyed under the whistling sound of rushing air and the rumbling sound of the engines.

Simon managed to gain his footing enough to ask, "What can I do, Captain?!"

"Notify your next of kin!" Mal shouted out as he struggled to bring Serenity back level. "Tell 'em you're about to be in a really cool lookin' spaceship crash." He quickly whipped the controls to the right and brought the ship out of the spin, then activated the forward thrusters to bring everything back level. The metal creaked and cracked after the ride became steady.

One by one, the rest of the crew entered the bridge to find out what had happened.

"Why can't we ever make a landing what isn't made following a tailspin?" Jayne said. "Thought I was comin' down from a hangover things was spinnin' so fast."

"Where's River?" Zoe asked.

Mal put the ship on autopilot and stood up to stretch his legs. "It seems she took a lunch break." He looks Simon straight in the eye. "Doc, I know I'm a naughty man. I'm guilty of almost every crime the Alliance has written up. One of the only laws I haven't broken is child abuse, but I will shove that girl in an airlock if she leaves like that again. 了解?"

"Yes…it won't happen again. I don't understand why she would have done that. She's been almost fully recovered ever since Miranda."

_"Bullet in the brainpan, squish."_

--

Simon slid the door to his room to find River still sleeping. "River?" He said softly as he entered. "River, wake up." He shook her shoulder until eyes slid open.

"噢祖母什么大牙您有." River said in a low voice before yawning.

"Yes, that was a part of the story that I read to you yesterday."

"It made me tired and then…" She sat up quickly. "I'm not on the bridge!"

"Nope. We all found that out just a bit ago."

"No, no, no, no, no. I can't be here. I have to be on the bridge!" She began to put on her slippers.

"River, you've been up for three days straight. You can't keep flying this ship manually all of the time."

"But it makes _her _happy!" She began to tear up and whimpered, "It makes her happy when I fly."

"Her? Who are you talking about?" Simon tried desperately to calm River down, but she darted out of the door to leave Simon with his questions.

--

-Relanor-

Mal picked out a small plateau on a hill over looking the main city on Relanor. A semi-developed town, it was beginning to light up house-by-house as the sun set behind it. It was as a flare in the desert.

"The Mule packed up?" Mal asked as he threw his pack on board the hovercraft.

"Packed and ready to go, Cap." Zoe responded. After pulling on the ignition the engines fired up and the craft began to float a few feet off the ground.

"Good. Let's hit the local bars and see what we can dig up." He clicked on the intercom. "Little one, we'll be back by mornin'. Don't go leavin' without us."

_"Roger, Captain."_ River said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Jayne marched down the stairs wearing the yellow and orange beanie that his mom had made for him. "Awwww. I think you hurt her feelin's." Despite being snappy, Jayne's personality always seemed brighter when he wore that hideous beanie. It was a mystery that was the topic of much discussion among the crew.

"Jayne, why are you bringing Vera along?" Zoe glanced at the dual-cartridge monster of a gun slung around Jayne's shoulder.

Jayne knew he wasn't supposed to bring any heavy artillery along. "Just…"

"Wanted to be prepared." Mal and Zoe said in unison. "We know."

--

"Maybe it's just her lady time." Kaylee sat with Simon on the engine room hammock. She rubbed her bare feet along Simon's leather shoes as they talked.

"I'm not so sure. I think it's something on the ship that's bothering her."

"Well heck, it's probably Jayne. He's the only thing 'round here I can think of can make someon' jump out an airlock."

"She said something about making 'her' happy. I don't know what she meant by that." Simon stared beyond the flooring in deep thought.

"Her? Well, who would be pleased by her flyin' Serenity? Inara's still back on Persephone so it can't be her. I can't even tell who's flyin' back here so it's probably not me."

"You think it's Zoe?"

"Would make perfect sense to me. She just lost her husband, the pilot, and a friend. Maybe it helps?"

Simon put his arm around Kaylee and planted a kiss on her. "Thank you."

"Well it was pretty simple. Even I spotted that."

"No…I mean…thank you for dealing with me. I know it can't be easy dealing with me when my sister is in her moods."

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Oh, she's just bein' little. I was a little girl like that once too. She's probably just tryin' to please everyone."

"I think that's it. Maybe she's just trying to repay us for taking care of her…Maybe."

"Maybe." Kaylee made an ear-to-ear smile and hopped onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Simon said happily.

"All this talkin' 'bout stuff got me wantin' an autopsy by the good doctor." She closed and locked the engine room door.

--

"I'm just sayin'…" Mal gulped on his words as he drank up at the bar. "You know, a lot of people think the Alliance is nothin' but a bunch of…meanies. You know? They'd sooner steal candy from a blind baby than be courteous…You know?"

The Alliance soldier took another drink of the Chinese whiskey. "I…I know! That's what they think. That we go n' beat up grandmas in the alleys. We don't…Well, at least _I_ don't. Know some others who…"

"It's just an image problem really. _That's_ all people see."

"Exactly. They don't see all the stuff we do behind the scenes." The soldier hid his face behind his hand and peered at Mal through his fingers. "We wanna help out. We do."

"Ah, I hear ya. Here's to you." Mal raised his glass.

"To meee." The soldier took another shot. "Ahhh."

"So, what's your business on a moon like this? More behind the scenes stuff?"

"Naaaaah. We've got something going on tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, you say?" Mal signaled to Zoe, who was sitting at a table just next to the bar.

"Yeah, we got something kinda big goin' on tomorrow. Can't say what it is. You know…top secret. Oooooooo." The soldier made a ghost sound. Zoe began laughing behind him.

"Don't suppose you can make any of that non-secret. Be an interesting story."

The soldier slapped Mal on the shoulder. "Ahhh, what the heck. You seem like a nice enough feller. Yeah, we're movin' somethin' in a car to a port just north of here. Don't know what it is but they've got me on guard duty around town…again…That's all I ever do. Guard….guard….guard." As the soldier trailed off, Mal and Zoe left the bar through the swinging doors.

"So there is a car moving tomorrow." Zoe said. "Are we still following through with the job?"

"Sounds good to me. If it was as big as I thought it was, then that soldier might have been a bit more enthused about it. Probably something small."

"Soldiers will also probably come if they're called by whoever's in that car."

"Also likely. We'll head back to Serenity and plan it out there. Sleep on it…Where's Jayne?"

The two approached the Mule and found Jayne unconscious and hanging over the side.

"Jayne!" Mal yelled in Jayne's ear. "Hey!" He yelled again and gave him a firm slap across the face.

"Wha! Wuh! Huh?" Jayne came to. "Y'all are back already?"

"Yeah, so what happened here?"

Jayne got to his feet and dusted off his clothes. "Just a civilized discussion 'tween two gentlemen."

"Take it you lost that debate."

"Slipped with a word or two."

"Right."

--

The crew discussed tomorrow's plan while Jayne slept the night away. His philosophy on complicated plans were that as complicated as they did indeed get, it would always boil down to "Jayne, you need to take out…" fill in the blank. As he lost consciousness, he tapped his foot on the bed rail to the "Fruity Oaty Bar" theme song. It helped him relax and he hummed it often, except around River of course.

"Da da da dada da. Doo doo da da doo doo da doo." He said quietly along with the song in his head. Then, he fell asleep. His snoring seemed to vibrate the very walls that made up his room.

"You shouldn't sleep so loud." A voice said.

Jayne practically hit the ceiling in fright and grabbed the nearest firearm he could find. In the corner sat River. She sat in his chair with her head hunched over and her long, black hair hanging over his favorite gun.

"Hey, psychogirl, what the hell are you doin' with Vera?!" He stood up as if to threaten River in some way. She quickly snapped all of Vera's components back together and pointed the rather large gun at him. "Oh…alright. You can…play around with her if you want."

"I wouldn't shoot you, Jayne." River's smile scared Jayne more than the gun pointed at his head.

"Well…that's good." Jayne said.

"Here." She swung the rifle around for Jayne to take it. "Go on. You can take it."

Slowly, he gripped the gun and pulled it towards him. "What'd you do to her?"

"I fixed her."

"Fixed her? She wasn't in need of no fixin'." Jayne said almost laughing at the idea.

"I replaced the compression coil with a new one and removed the plug. So Vera can shoot with a 10 increased accuracy rate and a 35 increase in firepower." River kept on smiling.

He couldn't figure out some of the numbers that River had pointed out, but as far as Jayne could tell, Vera would shoot better and more powerful.

"Huh." Jayne said looking it over. "Well I guess you aren't useless after all." He fought with his temptation to fire a bullet off into the wall.

--

"So that's it then." Mal told his crew. "We go tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3: The Case

* * *

Firefly - Episode One  
"Drive" (Chapter Three)

* * *

In the middle of the large desert just north of the main city on Relanor, a tiny vehicle made its way across the terrain. It was the only thing that cast a shadow for as far as the eye could see. Inside, the driver cranked up the volume on his music player. He sang to whatever played completely off pitch, but he knew every word. From under the seat, he pulled a tiny flask of off-brand alcohol. At some point in his life, he had heard that hard liquor lowers the blood temperature. Even if it was a myth, it was a nice one to buy into. 

POP!

The car began to bounce and wiggle all over the place. "Aww, bloody hell!" He spouted out, spraying the liquor all over the windshield. After coming to a stop, he muttered all kind profanity as he stomped over to the flat tire.

"Damn it all!" He cursed to the sky before walking to the trunk to get a spare tire. After rolling the spare around to the flat, he came to the realization that the spare was also flat. "诅咒这个残暴的工具 and all who invented it!" The driver was about to activate the emergency beacon that the Alliance had provided, when a small vehicle appeared in the distance.

"Ah-ha! What luck!" The driver hurriedly reached over and ripped off the rear view mirror. "Hallo, there!" He yelled while waving the mirror above his head. "Halloooo!!!"

The small hovercraft pulled up along side the car. A man with a brown duster stepped off of the craft and surveyed the damage.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a problem there." The man said.

"A bit of a problem? That little piece of rubber just stranded me out here." The driver explained. "Haha! I'm glad you folks came along."

"Just passing through." The man leaned over and felt the tire. His fingers traced the grooves in the rubber until they reached a hole. "Huh. Surprised a bullet could do that much damage."

"Yeah...uh…well I'm not so sure if it was a bullet or not."

"Yes it was." Mal said as Jayne pulled Vera up from the floor of the Mule. He aimed the massive weapon at the driver's head and fought back temptation to test the modifications that River had made.

"Now, what is all this?!" The driver held up his hands and inched towards the car, remembering the beacon.

"Ever had a bullet go through your head?" Jayne realized how little sense that made, but his confidence was reassured when he remembered how big of a gun he had. With it, he didn't have to make sense.

"I hear you've had some work thrown your way by the Alliance." Mal said, circling the driver. "Not a bad way to earn some credits…but…" Opening the trunk of the car, he finds a cylinder-shaped cased sitting next to some wrenches and oil-stained rags. After picking it up and observing the Alliance markings around the case, he began to walk back towards the driver. "…I really, really want this more that the Alliance does." He spotted the small beacon on the passenger's seat and grabbed that as well.

"No…no, you can't take that case…" The driver said nervously. The gun was still quite scary. "You can't take that case."

Mal climbed back onto the Mule. "Um…yeah. I am anyways so…have a nice day now." He switched on the engine and began to pull away. He threw a large bottle on the ground next to the driver. "It lowers the body temperature!"

The Mule sped off into the distance.

--

Fortunately for the crew, River had been getting some sleep while Mal and Jayne were away. As soon as the Mule pulled up into the cargo bay, she awoke and sprinted to the bridge.

"We're gonna have to be makin' our getaway now, little one." Mal spoke into the intercom. "Get us pointed towards Persephone."

_"Aye, Captain."_ River responded.

Mal started up the stairs to the kitchen. He looked back and noticed that Jayne was following very slowly, with a sad look upon his face.

"What's eatin' you?" Mal asked.

Jayne rocked his head around. "I didn't get to shoot nobody." He looked down at Vera.

"Ah, don't worry Jayne." Mal continued up. "I'll make you a deal. If you haven't gotten a chance to shoot anybody in a month, I'll take you anywhere in the Verse and you can off whoever you want. Alright?"

Jayne sighed. "Okay." A month is too long, he thought.

--

"What do you reckon is in it?" Kaylee asked. Her eyes fixed on the case. "Some kind of weapon or a…treasure map?"

"It's none of our business is what it is." Mal sat at the kitchen table sipping some green tea. "The job was to snatch the case. Whether there's something in there or not, there's still payment. So, closed it will stay."

Zoe was sitting across from Mal. "You couldn't get it open, huh?"

"Practically broke my arm tryin'." Mal replied, stretching his arm out. "Was about to have Jayne come and shoot the top off of it."

Jayne walked into the kitchen, his ears burning. "Offa what?"

Mal nodded to the case.

"Oh…" Jayne grabbed a dumpling from the cupboard and sat at the table. Sulking as he ate.

"It must not be _that_ important for the Alliance to transport it that way." Simon said. "…Right?"

"Well, it certainly was inconspicuous." Mal took another sip. "If I knew a rare artifact was being moved around, a rickety old car would be the last thing I'd wanna shoot up lookin' for it. Yep, this is a new one for the Alliance. It's smart…well…not too smart I guess since we got the item."

_"Captain, please report to the bridge." _River spoke through the intercom in an official sort of tone.

Everyone raised an eyebrow and stared at Mal. "What?" He said. "Makes me feel more captainy."

--

"We're getting something over the cortex." River said.

"Pull it up." Mal said.

River punched the button to connect the signal and a bald man with Chinese symbols tattooed up both sides of this head appeared on the screen.

_"Hello, Mal."_ The bald man grinned.

"Ott…Nice to see that shiny head of your's. Like to put a bullet in it if you'd let me." Mal struggled with his anger.

_"Haha! Still holding a grudge, are we?"_ Ott said.

"Considering you robbed us of coin that was rightfully ours, I'd say there's still a grudge lingering about."

_"Of course. You did get there first, Mal, but this business doesn't exactly have a place for men of honor. That old saying holds true."_

"Okay. Well if that's all, I have stuff to do."

Ott smirked through the cortex. _"I'm afraid it's not so easy, old friend. You see, you've beaten us to the punch yet again, and I'm afraid what you're carrying is far too valuable to let slide."_

The case. "What exactly am I carrying? All we picked up was some mining equipment, but I'll be more than happy to part with that if it's as valuable as you say."

_"Don't think me for a fool, Malcolm Reynolds. We are men of action, lies do not become of us."_

"Well, whatever I got or don't got is my own business and I expect you to be on your merry way. Don't make things rough for the two of us again."

_"As I said, it's not so easy. I will have that case, Mal…and your gun."_ Ott was beginning to burst into laughter when Mal disconnected the signal.

"Little one…" Mal laid his hand on River's shoulder. "…I need you to fly like you've never flown before."

River smiled and nodded. Serenity was only seconds away from hitting atmo, but River brought the ship about and pointed the nose to the ground. Below them, Ott's ship sped upwards towards them. She lined Serenity up with the ship and began a rapid plunge towards it.

Mal flipped the intercom on. "Everyone hang on to something that can save your life." He switched it back off and strapped into the copilot's seat.

Serenity violently ripped through the sky, full throttle towards Ott's ship. She was playing chicken with him.

"You're still a bit psychic aren't you?" Mal asked. "I mean, y-you'll know if he's gonna turn or not…right?" River didn't answer. She kept a large smile on her face as she struggled to keep the nose of the ship on course. The ship grew larger and larger in the view port. Mal gripped the armrests of his seat as hard as he could. Everything rocked around on the bridge and he could hear the sound of breaking glass coming from the kitchen.

"Persistence will get you nowhere, Ott." River muttered to herself. Mal looked over confused. "Oh, Ott. You think yourself so brave. But you're not. Is that why you kill anyone on your crew who questions you? Do you fear being killed yourself? Ah, you are afraid. You're afraid now. But you won't show it, she's watching."

Mal thought it best not to say anything and continued to brace for the possibility of an impact. Ott's ship was clearly defined in the viewport now. The sun cast a reflection off of their hull. Closer and closer they came. Their engines could be heard now. It was now or never. Now or never. Mal winced as the two ships met. At the last second, Ott's ship veered off to the right. Half way through a sigh of relief, River whipped the controls to the right as well.

"What are you…?!" Mal began, but the crack of an impact echoed through his ears. Afterwards, River pulled up out of the drop and began to head upwards towards the sky once again.

Mal got on the intercom. "Are we damaged?!"

_"Not at all, sir." _Kaylee responded. _"We hit something, but looks like it only caused a bit of body damage. Nothing a few whacks with a sledge can fix."_

After clicking off the intercom, Mal began to freak out. "Why?! Why would you do that? You had them pegged, why would you go and do that?"

"I didn't want them following us." River said.

"You didn't…What? Did you think a kamikaze mission was the only way to accomplish that?"

"I managed to ram their fuel line. They'll have to land now. For a long time. Might even need a new engine if I did it right."

Mal couldn't believe what he was hearing, but after checking sensors, he found that Ott's ship did in fact make a landing of some sort. He turned back to River. "Wha…wuh…You're a crazy lady, you know that?"

--

As Serenity broke atmo, Mal returned to the kitchen. The rest of the crew slowly returned to the kitchen from wherever they strapped themselves in.

"We have a great pilot," Zoe said, "but we almost died again, didn't we?"

"Too close to call." Mal replied. He found the case on the floor and set it onto the table.

"You gonna try and open it again?" Kaylee asked.

"I gotta see what Ott was willing to shoot us down over."

"I think you're gonna need some kinda key."

"Well, you know what our motto is on things that don't cooperate. Shoot it." Mal said, placing the case on the middle of the table. "Jayne, would you?"

Jayne pointed Vera at the case, grinning as he pulled back on the trigger. A loud pop echoed through the kitchen and the case went flipping into the wall.

"Thank you kindly." Mal walked over and picked up the cylinder-shaped case. The bullet had struck the lock dead on and the seal opened easily.

"What's in it?" Simon asked anxiously.

"Looks like a piece of paper." Mal reached in with two fingers after attempting to fit his whole hand in. "Why this would send Ott into a frenzy is beyond me." He pulled out the paper and flipped it around in different directions until he could read it.

"Well?" Jayne said, still gripping Vera.

Mal took a few more seconds to read it. His face went pale and his expression overcome by fear. He quickly rolled the paper back up and shoved it back into the container.

"What? What is it?" Jayne asked.

Mal sprinted to the intercom. "River, get us out of here. Don't go to Persephone. Pick any place that the Alliance won't follow us. Now!"

River didn't respond, but Mal could feel the ship changing directions.

"I ain't seen that look in a long time, Mal." Zoe said quietly.

Finding the nearest seat, Mal dropped onto it and stared into nothing. Pondering in the back of his mind.

Jayne walked over and tried to grab the case. "Gimme that." But Mal moved it out of reach.

The captain looked over to his crew and gathered his wits about him.

"We have ourselves a very serious problem."


	4. Chapter 4: Repercussions

* * *

Firefly - Episode One  
"Drive" (Chapter Four)

* * *

"_G'day there, Captain Reynolds." _Boyle tipped his hat through the cortex. _"I understand you've hit a bit of a snag, have you? Seeing how I don't have my artifact here in my hand."_

"Boyle, you may have a slightly better disposition than Badger had, but he never got us in _this_ thick." Mal paced in front of the screen in his cabin. "Do you even know what's in there?!"

_"Course I do, Reynolds. Wouldn't be very good at what I do without knowing what I'm after."_

"Then you know how hot it's gonna get around my ship. I'll have the whole gorram Alliance fleet coming after me. How do you even expect me to deliver this to Persephone?!"

_"You're looking into this far too much, mate. You stole it in the middle of the desert from an old man with a drinking problem. They could put you in a bloody line up and he wouldn't be able to spot you out. Just take a deep breath and bring me my artifact."_

"Don't try and spin your words around on me. You know as well as I do that the Alliance will track down every ship that came and went off Relanor. We aren't exactly in their good graces either at the present. Plus, if Ott is still crashed on that rock, he'd sell us out in a nano-second to get the feds off of his ship. So…what? What am I gonna do with this? On second thought, what would a weasel like you need that thing for?!" Mal was shouting now.

_"You can yell all you like, but you're taking shots at me pride now." _Boyle threw on a stern face. _"Look, Captain. I want that item. I don't care how you get it here, but I want it. I'll have you know I have big plans that involve what you just nabbed. Big plans. Get it here and you'll get your coin. Then we never have to do business again."_

Mal grabbed the screen. "You don't get it, do you?! The Alliance would go to war over something like this! Think about how they covered up Miranda. What lengths they went through. They'd gladly kill you and you're entire operation just to keep this out of the public's hands!"

_"N-No they wouldn't…They wouldn't dare…"_ Boyle scratched his head.

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Boyle seemed extremely nervous now. He took a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and wiped the sweat from his brow.

_"Alright, Reynolds. Get rid of it. I'm a man of my word so I'll still hand over the coin. Just get that far away from here."_

"Just what do you expect me to do? Just hand it back to them?! They know we've seen it!" Mal was fuming.

_"Afraid I can't tell ya how to do that. Just get rid of it." _Boyle disconnected.

Mal continued to stare into the monitor. The rage settled and he began to unwind on his bunk.

"Well, Mr. Reynolds…How are you gonna get yourself outta this one?" He said to himself. He breathed deep as he relaxed.

"You were never one to be backed into a corner like this, Mal." Shepherd Book said.

"I don't think I've been in a predicament like this before, Shepherd." Mal picked up a stick and poked some more wood into the campfire. "Not sure we can get ourselves outta this clean. Whether we have it or not, they'll just keep on comin'. Won't be long before we're just floatin' belly-up in the black."

"As long as I've known you, whenever things were at their worst, we always found ourselves running. Which was always fine."

"Runnin' was always a more pleasant alternative to death, explosions, torture and such. Rather be colored yellow than red."

"Well, ask yourself this. Instead of 'where' can you run to, think of 'who' you can run to."

"Not exactly a long list there after Miranda..." Mal remembered someone.

"There ya go, Mal." Book smiled widely. "There ya go."

Mal's eyes opened. He had fallen asleep. "I need to get some medication or something this is ridiculous." Then, he remembered the dream. He lept up and flipped on the intercom.

"Little one, are you on the bridge?"

_"Yes, sir"_ She responded.

"Get ready for a change in heading."

--

Jayne had since snuck a peek into the case. He sat at the kitchen table with a large bottle of sake. For some reason, he had pulled a shot glass from the cupboard but went about chugging the stuff straight from the bottle.

"Can I have me some of that?" Kaylee had also looked at the paper not too long after Jayne had.

"Uh…" He burped. "Yeah, sure." Jayne ignored the empty shot glass, stood up, walked to the cupboard and pulled a new glass from it. He set it gently on the table next to Kaylee and attempted to pour the sake in. Most of it dripped onto the table before Kaylee grabbed the bottle from him.

"Do you have the case 'round here?" Kaylee asked.

"Heck no." Jayne sat back down. "The thing probably has a gypsy curse on it er something. Probably wake up with my hands and feet switched around."

Simon walked into the room with a small stack of papers. "These just came in through the cortex. We're getting quite a bit of air time at the moment." Each of the pages was a wanted poster for each of the crew members. One was for the ship itself.

"What's wrong with you two?" Simon asked.

"We uhhh…" Kaylee began. "…We…looked into yonder case."

"You did?! But…I thought we weren't…I'm gonna look, where is it?" Simon was determined now.

"Put it down in the secret compartment." Jayne replied. "You should put on some of yer fancy doctor gloves when you look at it."

"There's no gypsy curse on it, Jayne." Kaylee scolded as Simon left the room. The two heard the compartment being slid open on the lower deck.

Jayne began to count down. "Three. Two. One." They heard the compartment being closed up again. Seconds later, Simon entered the room with a blank expression. He stared into nothing before snatching up Jayne's empty shot glass.

"Give me some of that." Simon demanded.

--

Mal was on his way to the bridge when he noticed Zoe's cabin. He hadn't heard much of her since they left planetside. The hatch was open so he lowered himself down into her room.

"Zoe?" He whispered.

"Here, Mal." Zoe replied. There was sadness in her voice.

After reaching the floor, Mal saw Zoe sitting on the edge of her bed looking at a piece of paper.

"Y'all right, Zo?" Mal caught sight of what was on the paper. He sighed. "I'm sorry you saw that."

"They still think he's alive. They still think he's with us, Mal." Her tears dripped onto a wanted poster with Wash's picture on the front. "He'd still be with us if it weren't for them."

"He knew what he was getting into. Just like the rest of us." Mal was short on words, and that didn't help the matter.

"I remember…" Mal brought a painful memory back into his mind. "…I remember this one time. It was just before we ran into Dobson at Sturges. Wash took me aside and says to me, 'This is an unhealthsome gig, Mal. It's stupid.' He was of course referring to our line of work. But he said, 'Doing something stupid to keep the woman you love nearby, even for a little while…Well, that's the kind of stupid I don't mind.'"

Zoe smiled briefly but was overcome by grief. Without thinking she leaned over and began to cry on Mal's shoulder.

"I miss him so much, Mal." She sniffled. "I miss him so damn much."

Mal couldn't think of what to do. He laid his hand on Zoe's head in an attempt to comfort her.

"Let it all out, soldier."

--

When everyone on the ship retired to their bunks and Mal had redirected Serenity's course to Whitefall, River reached back in her mind and remembered a time when she walked up onto the bridge. She found Wash humming to himself and rocking the controls back and forth.

"Why are you doing that?" River asked bluntly.

"Woah!" Wash was spooked. "Oh, it's you, River. Scared me half to death just now." He clenched his chest and took a deep breath.

"Why were you doing that?" She asked again.

"Uhh, doing what?"

"You've been changing our trajectory constantly for the past hour and a half. Why?"

"What?...Oh! Oh, oh, oh. Sorry about that. Did I keep you awake?"

"No. I was confused as to why you were doing it."

"Well, it's a bit of a story in itself. I never really thought about it too much." Wash cleared his throat. Seemingly happy to tell the tale. "A while back, Zoe told me about all about her time with the Independents. Their lines being constantly driven back. Their losses and their wins…mostly losses. But she told me how when the soldiers made camp, she could only sleep when there was fighting going on. Because as long as there was shooting or bombs going off or something rumbling the ground, then that meant the Alliance was being kept at bay, so she could sleep peacefully. It was when everything was completely silent that she could hardly blink. Cause that meant the Alliance could sneak up on them any which way in the night."

"So…the rocking helps her sleep?"

"I'm not completely sure. Whenever I'm up late driving, then I rock the controls back and forth a little. She's always dead asleep by the time I get down there. So, if jiggling the controls a bit can put my girl to sleep, then I'd do it all damn night." Wash smiled. River, getting her answers, walked right out of the bridge without a word.

"Nice talkin' to ya." Wash called after her in a sarcastic tone.

This conversation had always sat in her mind as he piloted Serenity. Tonight, the most important thing she could do was keep the ship off of autopilot. She gripped the controls with both hands and began to slowly rock them back and forth. Back and forth.

River smiled as she felt the sadness somewhere on the ship being withered away.

"Nice talkin' to ya." She whispered.

--

"Inara, there isn't a thing in the Verse you need to worry you pretty head about right now. We're fine. You're fine. Everyone's fine." Mal was at the cortex in his cabin again.

_"Your faces are plastered everywhere, Mal. What did you get yourself into?"_

"Nothing Alliance related, that's for sure." He tried to change the subject. "Don't let your client see you all a flustered like this. It'll be bad for business."

_"Mal." _Inara's face was completely serious now. _"Mal, what did you do?"_

Mal looked towards the floor and rubbed his forehead.

"Really, it's nothing."

_"Mal..."_ She said, not letting up.

"I…" He tried to find the words.

Inara waited impatiently for a response. _"You what?"_

"I…think we found the way home."


	5. Chapter 5: Confrontations

* * *

Firefly - Episode One  
"Drive" (Chapter Five)

* * *

"You're not serious about landing there, are you?" Simon was entranced by the moon Serenity was pointed towards. Its unmistakable white surface slowly filling up the view port.

"Well I didn't bring us here to look at it." Mal sat in the copilot's seat with his feet planted on the control dashboard. "'Sides, we haven't been here for a while anyways."

"I almost got shot here."

"You almost got shot everywhere. At least here…you know…lightning never strikes twice."

"Aren't you worried about Patience?"

"She shot me. I knocked a horse over on her. I think we're even."

"What about Dobson?"

"I shot the man in the head! I know for a fact he's dead! What do you want from me?!"

"Twice! You've shot him _twice_ in the head so far. He just didn't give up." Simon said.

"Yeah, well." Mal chuckled to himself. "I made him give up. Probably still floating around at Sturges without a care in the world. With two bullets in his head and no eyes."

"Just…don't see why we're coming here." He sighed. "Are you going to at least tell us who we're meeting?"

Mal stood up to walk off the bridge but turned back around at the entrance. "The person we're meeting is not someone I wish to speak with, but to get out of this clean…we have to. So leave it at that." He left the bridge.

"It's always mysteries and surprises with that man." Simon said, hoping River would chime in. "Do you know who we're meeting?"

River shook her head to indicate, Can't tell you.

"Come on, River. Please."

"Keeping secrets is my business, Simon." River said before going mute again.

--

"You lookin' to get shot again, Cap?" Zoe asked as she got the Mule prepped. "Why are you leadin' us to Whitefall?"

"Why is everyone so worried about getting shot? Really, I'd be more concerned about Jayne shootin' ya. The man's been goin' through withdrawals." Mal slid the secret compartment open.

"Have not." Jayne argued. "Just have a dream been eatin' me up inside."

"Very poetic." Zoe replied.

Mal pulled the small cylinder out of the compartment and put it into the tool case on the Mule.

"Don't bring that thing near me." Jayne threatened.

"Zoe." Mal motioned for Zoe to come closer. "I think I'm gonna be needin' you to stay on the ship."

She looked stunned. "Sir?"

"Look, don't take this the wrong way. It's just…the individual we're meeting out here, we ain't exactly on speaking terms. The only reason I'm doing this is to get us out of this jam."

"Sir, I don't know what impression you've had of me through the interplanetary war, the thieving and all the violence…I'm a big girl now. I think I can handle a little talkin'." Zoe didn't give Mal a chance to answer. She stepped up onto the Mule and loaded her weapon.

"Okay, then."

--

-Whitefall-

The Mule sped along the rocky, white-sanded terrain. While Mal drove, Zoe and Jayne passed questioning glances to eachother. Where is he taking us this time? Why all the secrecy? Do you think this plan will get us out of this mess? Jayne's downward glances to his gun were ignored.

"How much farther, Cap?" Zoe yelled over the engines.

"Not much." Mal replied.

There was the shine of a metal structure in the distance. Weapons were loaded, just in case.

They stopped the engines outside the small shack. It was hastily thrown together, but structurally sound. No loose debris, it was tidy for being out in the middle of the desert. There was only one plant, a tree, under that a small zen garden.

"You gonna tell us now?" Zoe asked. Her voice reeking of annoyance.

"'Member what we talked about, Zoe. We're here for one reason and one reason only. They are good intentions and don't think rotten of me."

The front door to the shack swung open. A man in hand-woven garments stepped out.

"亲爱的天堂这无法是真正的…" Zoe said, drawing her weapon.

--

"I get the feeling that we've been playin' second fiddle to whatever's been goin' on." Kaylee had set up three chairs on the loading ramp for Simon, River and herself. They all had a bottle of water and took a quick drink when the cooling breeze died down.

"How do you mean?" Simon asked, reclined and relaxed in his chair. His hand locked with Kaylee's hand.

"Well, whenever danger or things are going down. We're stuck here on Serenity doin' nothin'. I ain't even had much to fix an' you haven't treated a bullet wound in ages."

"Next think you know, I'll be as anxious as Jayne to get someone shot."

Kaylee laughed. "Yeah, what's up with that anyways?"

"I fixed his gun." River added. She was falling asleep in the relaxing heat.

"Oh, well no wonder. I remember when we was just starting out, Jayne bought an upgrade for one of his guns and shot the merchant just to test it out."

"What? Really?" Simon asked, surprised.

"Haha, no—Well, I mean he only nicked him in the leg."

"Only?!"

"Oh, come on, Simon, I was only foolin'." She laughed before falling unusually silent.

"Do you think they made it there alright?" Simon was concerned about the whole situation. Before Miranda, he always had a small sense that no matter what happened, everything would be alright. After Wash and Shepherd Book died, he felt that the crew, his friends, were less than invincible now.

"I think they're fine. Whoever they're meeting can't be _that_ bad."

--

"You're a son of a bitch, Sir." Zoe was furious.

Mal didn't reply, he just watched as the man from the shack scanned his visitor's faces.

"Captain Reynolds." The man said. "I can honestly say I'm surprised to see you here. I can only assume there is a rather extravagant reason for you coming to me."

"There is." Mal said. "There would only have to be."

"Of course." The man turned to Zoe, who was still aiming the gun to his head. "I would not blame you if you did, Zoe."

"Put the gun down." Mal ordered.

"Why the hell did you bring us to this scum?!" Zoe held the gun firm.

"You gave me your word you wouldn't let this get out of hand."

"You're gonna have to paint me a liar, Captain." Her trigger finger tensed. "The last time we saw this man, he was destroying all that we hold dear. If it weren't for him, Book and…and Wash would still be around."

"I'm the one who left him alive. I did so for a reason. Put…down…the gun." Mal wasn't asking.

Zoe's arm trembled. The man, the operative, didn't blink. Her grip loosened and the gun fell to her side.

"…That was tense." Jayne muttered.

"Might I ask how you found me?" The operative asked out of pure curiosity.

"You're not the most liked person in our industry. Word gets around." Mal answered.

"It certainly would. What is it you wished to talk about, Captain?" The operative asked.

"We ran into a bit of a problem. If it was typical Alliance trouble, it wouldn't be a deal. But we stole something that they really want back." Mal held up the case.

"Ah. Well you are in a bit of trouble now, aren't you?" The operative took the case in his hand and pulled out the map. "They move it around constantly so that even Alliance personnel aren't tempted to have a look inside. It's not a safe business they're in."

"How long have they known?" Mal asked.

"For as long as humanity has been here. Only a few maps were made and kept safe in case we ever decided to return to Earth-That-Was. But that was before the Alliance came to power and the Unification Wars began. If the map ever got out, there would be a mass exodus that they would be unable to stop. The power that they've fought to attain would be drastically reduced."

"On any other day, I'd say that's quite a fun thing to do to the Alliance. But…"

"They've come after you. No, Captain, you did the right thing bringing this to me. There's not a chance that you would have survived long otherwise. This is one secret that the Alliance would destroy worlds over. Not worth putting your crew through such things."

"So you can help with this? Get them off our tails?" Mal wanted to be assured.

"I will use my remaining contacts within the Alliance to call off the hunt. But I will have to return this to them."

"If I ever conjure up an army, I many need it again in the future. Until then, get it the hell away from us."

The operative smiled. "You have my word. Goodbye, Captain." He returned to his shack.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne piled onto the Mule again. No one said a word until they got back to the ship.

--

"I did what I had to do." Mal kept telling himself. He was more than glad when he saw that their faces were not longer plastered all over the net, but he felt like he had sold his soul to do so.

He continued to be struck with bad dreams. One where he found himself driving the Reaver spike into Wash's chest. Wash staring Mal in the eyes until his color faded.

"I shouldn't have done it." He thought.

_"It's not your way, Mal."_

Let it pass. It's over and done with. You can either sit adrift or raise the sails. See where the current takes you. He pulled out a small piece of paper he had scribbled on. The coordinates on the map were so vividly engraved in his memory that it was easy to copy down. He put it in a drawer next to his bunk.

"I'll be back for you." He told the paper. Smiling that he had done so.

River's voice came over the intercom. _"Should I get us heading towards Persephone, Captain Reynolds?"_

"You certainly can, darlin'. We'll pick up Inara, get our money and…maybe a vacation." He clicked off the intercom. Vacation sounds nice.

He heard a shot go off somewhere on the ship.

_"Jayne!!!" _Kaylee screamed from her cabin. _"My dress!!!"_

--

"have we retrieved the map?"

"we have."

"have they been destroyed?"

"no, sir. our ex-operative contacted our forces and returned it."

"have him destroyed. i don't want this happening again."

"right away, sir."

"is there a chance that one of the crew on the firefly might have seen it?"

"there is that distinct possibility."

"then we still have a problem then. don't we."

-FIREFLY-


	6. Closing Notes

Well, this concludes my first fanfic. I had never done one before I got the idea for this one. Firefly was just too good of a show to let die, in my mind. This my way of keeping it alive. I miss that show. (

Hope that the characters and story thus far are living up to what they were on the show. I'll be going back and scanning it for typos and inconsistencies. (I already made the mistake of mistaking Patience with Constance. :/) I expect all the Browncoats here to criticize the heck out of this and other stories that I've been working on for Firefly.

Thank you very much for reading!

-knight

(UPDATE 4/15): Just wanted to say thanks to all those who left feedback. It helped me out a lot. I'm still trying to get the story arc down for "Powder Keg". Its coming along, but not as fast as I'd like. The second chapter will be up soon, I hope. Thanks again, I really appreciate it. D


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